Why Test Management Tools are Important for Software Development and Testing Startups

As the demand for quality software application surges, companies look for ways to optimize their testing processes to deliver improved quality faster in order to stay ahead of the competition. This can be a challenge especially for startup testing companies who have a limited budget, manpower, skills, and other resources. For them, test management tools can be of great help. 

These tools help companies to optimize the quality, speed, and processes of the software testing activities to save time and resources. From creating test cases and plans to define user requirements and generating reports, these tools handle all aspects of testing projects. This provides startups the insights, flexibility, and visibility necessary to increase their testing efficiency. 

The Importance and Challenges of Testing for Startups

Before releasing the software in the market, it needs to be tested to ensure quality by giving developers a chance to rectify the defects so that the software works as expected, satisfies the customer and improves revenue.

Unlike large enterprises, most of the startup’s operations are not streamlined. They suffer from uncertainties, lack of funds, time, and expertise. But this is no excuse for not performing testing because if it fails to test the software, it runs a high risk of releasing an unreliable and faulty software that could be disastrous for a startup’s growth.

It is easy to perform manual testing (excel/email-based management) at initial stages of the startups but in the long-run, manual testing can be ineffective, time-consuming, and costly. These challenges can be overcome by deploying test management tools that allow teams to streamline processes as well as keep proper documentation. 

Creating, modifying, and managing those changes can be a hassle if manual techniques are used. Management tools perform these tasks in considerably less time, captures everything, and keeps documentation about steps, inputs, requirements, and results. Whereas, with manual methods, there is always a risk of missing out on some details and information.

How do Test Management Tools help?  

Test management tools simply consolidate several aspects of testing into one place. This improves resource utilization, quality, and speed of testing while reducing effort and costs.

Tools differ in flexibility, effectiveness, ability, scope, and more. Some companies prefer to work with one comprehensive solution while others use a combination of different tools. Experts suggest that while the latter approach can be very helpful, it’s better to have one comprehensive solution that best fits your organization and its requirements. 

As a startup grows, a load of tests increases, and maintaining quality becomes crucial even with fewer resources. A typical tool captures the test requirements, assists in designing the test cases, maps the test cases to the requirements, and generates test execution reports.

Consolidation

Management tools work as a central repository where teams can create and save test cases, plans, executions, reports, requirements, and milestones, all in one place. Team members can be easily made aware of their responsibilities and current statuses without emailing or chatting. These tools also provide an end-to-end view of test requirements, test plans, test cases, defects, and other useful information. While tests can be difficult to manage and tracing defects, requirements, and communication can be an issue with manual systems, management tools make this very easy for startups.

Visual Information

Test management tools visualize trends in quality overtime, allowing developers to see the flaws in the system and enabling them to estimate the time it takes to perform automated testing. Things need to move fast in startups and these tools ensure just that. Visualizations also show the performance of sprints. 

Easy Communication 

Management tools make communication easy by getting rid of emails and chats and providing direct comment features that removes communication barriers between testers and developers. Sometimes, startups are occupied with more work than their capacity - in this scenario, going through the hassle of emails and chats is unreasonable. These tools also allow managers to assign work to testers and view the results after it’s completed.

Improved Collaboration

Test management tools provide stakeholders real-time access to the same platform and bring everyone on-board without having to wait until an email or physical document is passed to each team member. Most importantly, these tools ensure that testers and developers are on the same page, which is very important for a startup.

Minimized Duplicate Data

There is a high chance of duplication when managing test requirements, test cases, and defects. There’s also a risk that the copy of the same document contains different information. Management tools ensure that all team members view the same information on the testing process. With time being a scarce resource, startups can’t afford to waste their time on testing/fixing duplicate defects.

Increased Coverage of Manual Testing

Manual testing is slow and challenging for startups especially. It requires testers to follow a specific set of rules when testing different types of data. This process is simplified by management tools as it increases the test coverage.

How to Select the Right Tool?

With a limited budget, startups need to look for tools that provide the best value for money. Tools must have basic functionalities as well as additional features that meet the startup’s goals at the right budget. Startups should consider the following factors before buying a tool:

• Check how the system works in enabling managers to create and manage the software development teams, members, and projects
• Check how the tool helps create test plans, cases, scenarios, and user stories.
• Check whether it has an option to create test runs and if yes, how easy it is to do so.
• The tool should have the option to generate reports about the quality, defects, and test processes of the software under test.
• It should be able to track defects
• Features such as import/export, crash analysis, search option, filters, and ability to integrate with other tools and systems are also important.

Conclusion

Test management tools are a must-have for QA companies, irrespective of their size. These tools simplify testing processes and allow managers to manage all the testing activities seamlessly. These tools are usually flexible, easy to use, and comprehensive for startups. They reduce the time to plan and execute test cases while improving accuracy and efficiency.